An Old Flintlock Pistol
by Umeko
Summary: A series of one-shots on Teague's old flintlock and how it helped Jack Sparrow out of trouble.
1. From Father to Son

Disclaimer – Disney owns the entire franchise of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Special thanks to Minicinnamon99 for inspiring this fic.

**From Father to Son**

It was a gift from an old shipmate and it had served Edward Teague well through the years. Old Morgan might have taken it from some Spanish noble given the ornate metalwork too fine to be a common soldier's. He saw fit to give it to his former shipmate, the son of a school teacher turned pirate captain. The firearm still worked despite all the abuse it had been subject to between the saltwater and weather.

Now it nestled snugly in its box under his bed. Teague scratched his belly and winced at that now-familiar ache in his side. He never thought he would end his days in this manner, in bed. He always thought it would be in a sea battle. Perhaps having a young son tagging along made him more cautious with his life. He was never one to take foolhardy risks, although he was still as formidable in battle, ever since Jenny Wren dumped Jackie in his arms and took off on a raid. Thankfully she kept their next child with her. Raising a little girl was too much to demand of him.

He grinned at the memory of his wee Jackie boy…

* * *

_Many years before..._

"Jackie, stay away from those men, do ye hear?" Teague did not like the way Jack's bright eyes alit on the myriad riches brought ashore by the crew of the _Adventurer._ A seven-year-old as inquisitive as his son was bound to wind up in trouble sooner than later. His son nodded, although his eyes coveted the fine bejewelled dagger atop the pile of gold trinkets. Teague knew where the chests of gold and jewels were bound for. There was a merchant in Tortuga who did not ask awkward questions but would pay good coin for the haul. No doubt the jewels would be sold back to the witless gentry while the gold and silver cast into ingots or coin.

Kidd was a different ilk of pirate. He sought to squirrel away a tidy fortune for retirement instead of spending it all in a night of drunken debauchery. One can only admire the man's optimism.

The merchant and the captain haggled and came to an agreement. Kidd gave the orders to weigh anchor. His business on land was concluded. Teague ordered his mate to carry the crates of lime onto his ship. Now where did Jackie boy get to?

"Stop thief!"

Jack Sparrow came running out of the crowd towards his da with the jewelled dagger in hand, a stolen prize. _Oh bother…_

With one swift move, the flintlock discharged. Kidd would need a new merchant to fence his stolen loot now.

That was the first time he used the flintlock to save Jackie boy's bacon but it would not be the last.

* * *

_Many, many years later…_

The lamp flickered, casting deep shadows upon the weathered features of the ancient mariner lying upon his bunk. A smile crinkled his face at the memory of how they had fled helter-skelter with the merchant's fellow thugs at their heels. That was so long ago. One could trust Jackie boy to get into trouble without fail. Cocky Jack Sparrow would throw caution to the winds and laugh in the face of danger. That was part of his nature, just like the sea which called to them. Ah, he could hear the waves breaking on the wrecks of the reef guarding the Cove.

There was another sloshing which was nearer. Wilhelmina coming with a basin of warm water for him to wash up with. He never could understand his daughter's constant need for cleanliness. His Jenny brought her up differently from how he raised Jack.

"Is Jack in yet?" he wheezed as she helped him sit up.

"Not yet, Father." He felt the gentle warmth of a cloth run over his face and neck.

"Get me the box under me bed…" A shuffling and scrapping sound close by announced that Wilhelmina was obeying his instructions. His daughter was not as flamboyant as her brother but a fine pirate all the same. A weight on his lap announced that she had placed it on the blankets.

"Your flintlock pistol, Father?" Ah, she had opened it.

"Promise me, Willy lass. Give it to me Jackie…"

"No, Father. You give it yourself."

The statement hung over them both. Teague coughed violently, forcing Willy to thump him on the back to clear his chest. The Code Keeper was ailing and if Jack did not show soon…

"Willy lass… promise…" he pulled away from his daughter.

"I promise, Father," Wilhelmina allowed her fingers to trace the metalwork of the pistol once before shutting the lid and fastening the clasps. "Upon the lives of my children."

Teague grinned. His sight was hazy now but he could imagine the face she was making. Wilhelmina never thought highly of Jonathon Edward Teague, alias Jack Sparrow. "You can have my silver, Willy, including the flask…" he added in a reconciliatory tone.

"I guess Brother Jack needs the pistol more than me," Willy Raven agreed. "Are you up to some chicken soup, Father?" She forced a smile on her face. Doc Sawyer was clear in his grim prognosis.

**Author's Notes: **

This is going to be a series of one shots centring on Teague's flintlock pistol. You may wish to read the fic _Return of the Prodigal Son_ as a companion fic as I will not be writing the funeral of Teague again.


	2. The Spanish Lady

Disclaimer – Disney owns the entire franchise of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Jack Sparrow aids an old friend in distress.

**The Spanish Lady**

The Code Keeper was dead. The pirate captain carefully cleaned the flintlock mechanism of his pistol. Teague had given it to him. Thankfully, the role of Code Keeper would fall on good old Lizzie who was once a Pirate King. Everyone expected Sparrow to twist the rules to his benefit if the Code ever fell into his hands. Jack yawned and wiped the last of the gun oil from his hands.

He had grieved enough for his father. Captain Jack Sparrow was not one to mope about the cabin. Already, he had an appointment with an old friend, a merry little widow he once met in Marseilles. Senora Maria Stefana might be a little grey now but Jack Sparrow acknowledged he was no youngster either. Already he had stopped counting the white hairs in his beard.

He was pleasantly surprised when on the second day of his sojourn in Santo Domingo, a letter from the lady came to him via a little black page boy. The lady must have spotted his ship in the harbour. It was useful holding a few letters of marque to be used when he needed a convenient port to provision his vessel.

* * *

_A few hours later…_

"You promised the lady what?" Wilson, his first mate after old Gibbs retired from seafaring, raised a sardonic brow.

"Well, one does not say no to a damsel in distress…" Jack twirled a beard-braid in his fingers. "Besides, it is a low thing to blackmail a former mistress…"

"Captain, do you have any idea how well-defended this here fortress is?" Wilson scowled and pointed an accusing finger at the ugly mass of rock overlooking the town. "They have a full garrison in there and Senor Josef will not take kindly to you stealing from him, even if you did convince him our papers were legit…"

"Don't fret. Captain Jack will think up something…" Jack murmured as he tied his father's pistol in his sash.

* * *

Maria Stefana was in tears when they met. She had since remarried some Spanish governor and gone decent. She showed Jack a portrait of her two young sons, both sent to Spain to be educated. There was a daughter too, a timid little girl who ran and hid when Jack came up the walk to the door. Unfortunately for Maria, her current husband was constantly away on diplomatic business. During one extended period of loneliness, Maria fell hard for the rakish charms of one garrison captain, Josef Mertez. Maria was a passionate lover while the affair lasted, Jack knew that from experience.

For a time all was well, until Maria's passions waned and she ended the affair. That was when Josef turned nasty. He had in his possession several racy letters she wrote to him and threatened to make their contents public unless the lady paid richly for his silence. The scandal would kill her husband and the family's reputation in Santo Domingo and Spain. _How would her children be viewed in the conservative circles of Spanish nobility if her affair was made known? Who would dare ask her daughter's hand? How would her sons cope when their fellows whisper and point at them behind their backs? And her poor Miguel, who had always been so kind to her… The shock would be too much for his heart, already weakened by tropical fevers. _

At first she had paid but the demands kept increasing, until she was forced to sell her jewels. It had to stop and Maria begged Jack Sparrow to aid her in retrieving the letters.

"I saw where he keeps them… In a black lacquered box in the top drawer of his desk. The key to the box is on a chain around his neck. The keys to the desk he keeps in the mouth of a carved savage statute he has in the corner of his office. The room is on the top floor of the east tower of the fort. His quarters are next to it. He sleeps there when he isn't visiting his mistresses or the local Madame…"

Maria Stefana was always an observant little lady and Jack thanked her for it. The only thing she did not really mention to him was the fact that there was a full garrison within the walls of the fort. Well, one cannot be perfect, Jack shrugged. He would need to observe the fort for a while before making his move and allow his crew to complete their provisioning in case they had to leave port in a hurry.

* * *

It was three nights later when Jack finally made his move. Sneaking in was the easy part. A cart-ride between baskets from freshly laundered sheets for the soldiers from the town laundry got him within the walls. He spent an hour or so in the woodpile where he had hidden himself after the cart gone past the sentries to wait for dusk. The night was moonless. He stole a soldier's coat and slipped into the fortress. The office he found with no difficulty. Senor Josef was out attending a gambling party at the home of a slaver. The slaver's housekeeper had let slip that fact to Corks when marketing on the docks.

The darkness in the office was overwhelming and Jack found it necessary to light a lamp. He all but tripped over the ugly statue before reaching down its snarling maw to retrieve the key to the drawer. The lock of the lacquered box he skilfully picked. He browsed through the letters to make sure they were the right ones. Yes, they bore Senora Maria's flowing hand, and words of passion which even caused the colour to rise in a seasoned man like Jack Sparrow.

He should not linger too long. His crew would create a diversion to distract the sentries from their post. Anytime now, the signal might be given. He stuffed the incriminating letters into his vet, blew out the lamp and exited the tower hurriedly. There was a stretch of open walkway between the towers he could avoid the soldiers in the yard during his walk to the gate.

_What the? _Jack frowned as the light in the tower window flickered. Someone else was in the tower. There was a bellowing and a livid figure stormed out into the yard. So the scoundrel was back earlier than expected. Soldiers were sent scurrying. They were searching the fort for their intruder. Jack leaned against the stone and watched in amusement. He closed his hand over the pistol in his sash.

_Jackie boy, behind you…_ It was the tiniest of voices in his head and it sounded like his da.

Captain Jack Sparrow sensed the danger behind him and spun round. The pistol in his hand spat fire. There was a muffled cry as his would-be killer fell down and over the parapet into the churning waves below. "Thanks, da." Jack stuck the pistol into his sash and checked to make sure the letters he came to steal were still safe in his vest.

The soldiers were milling about the yard, confused by their commander's fine temper. The garrison was a slovenly lot, a far cry from Norrington's well-disciplined men. Jack chuckled as two men came racing round a corner of an outhouse and full-tilt into each other.

"Fire! Fire!" someone shouted. Men went running for water buckets. Cotton's bird squawked overhead. That was the signal they had distracted the sentries. Jack ran for the now-unguarded gate and freedom.

Maria thanked him with many kisses before she tossed the letters into the flames. They watched together as the paper curled and crumbled into ash. He did not stay the night despite her invitation to do so. Time and tide wait for no man and the _Black Pearl_ would leave on the morning tide with her captain at the helm.


End file.
